Today we will start here one more very important
topic of strength of material and that is “springs” with the help of this post.
We will first see here the basic definition of a spring
and also various types of springs that are usually used.
Further, we will derive
the expression for stresses and also deflections developed in various types of
springs.

Let us go ahead step by step for easy
understanding, however if there is any issue we can discuss it in comment box
which is provided below this post.

So, what is a spring?

Spring is basically defined as the
elastic element which is basically used for absorbing the energy due to resilience
and this absorbed energy may be released as and when required.

Let us consider one example for better
understanding of function of spring of storing energy. We have seen so much
toys in our childhood, where there will be a spring installed inside the drive
mechanism of toy and there will be one key. In order to operate the toy, we
used to rotate the key and by doing so energy will be stored by the spring. Once
we will leave the key, toy will be operated because of releasing of stored
energy.

Therefore, we can say that springs are used
for absorbing the energy in various engineering applications and this absorbed
energy may be released as and when required.

Spring will be deformed when load will
be applied over the spring and once load will be removed, spring will secure
its original size and shape.

We can also define the spring as an
elastic element which is used for securing the flexible joint between two
parts. There are various engineering applications, where it is very much needed
to absorb the energy of sudden applied load or impact load and that requirement
will be fulfilled by using the springs.

Hence we can say that springs might be
used to secure the flexible joint between two parts.

A spring having ability to store maximum
amount of energy for given value of stress without any permanent deformation
will be considered as best spring.

Types of springs

There are basically three types of
springs those are usually used in various engineering applications and these
are as mentioned here

1. Helical springs

2. Laminated springs or leaf springs

3. Flat spiral spring

We will discuss each type of spring in
detail in our next post with determination of stresses and also calculations of deflections developed.

Applications of springs

There are huge engineering applications
of springs and we can see its applications almost everywhere in our engineering
life such as road vehicles, Railway wagons, toys, watches, cranes etc.

We will now go ahead to understand the
basic concept of spring index in our next post and further we will find out the
various terminologies used in springs and finally we will figure out the
stresses and deflections too for each type of spring.